Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Jazz – Worst loss of the season ends with Cavs booed off the floor

The Cleveland Cavaliers followed up arguably their best win of the season with perhaps their worst loss. Let’s talk about it.

WINNER – Nae’Qwan Tomlin

Tomlin has injected life into this Cavalier team all season long. When the vibes are low and the energy is down, Tomlin has been able to turn things around through his hard work and determination.

Tonight, however, Tomlin did more than hustle. He showcased the full range of his skillset, scoring at the rim, blocking shots, nailing a corner three-pointer, and dishing the rock in the second half. It felt like Tomlin was everywhere the Cavs needed him to be. Tomlin finished with 13 points (6-11 FG), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

There’s still a lot of room for the two-way prospect to grow. He isn’t exactly drawing a crowd on the perimeter, and his passes tonight weren’t anything spectacular. But Tomlin is showing more than enough to prove he deserves a standard contract, and this might have been the best game of his young career so far.

I was hoping there would be more winners to talk about tonight. Sadly, our list ends here.

LOSER – The First Quarter

Nothing is guaranteed in life. But this is one of those games that felt destined to go the Cavaliers’ way, considering the wide gap in talent between them and the Jazz.

The first quarter didn’t feel like that. Utah came out of the gates on fire, building up a 17-point lead in the first quarter.

Cleveland started the game 2-13 from the floor (15%). Some of this is bad shot luck, but their offense felt uninspired and disorganized. This wasn’t a team that was just missing shots. A focused effort would have led to better results.

The Cavs would momentarily wake up to erase this deficit in the second quarter and even take a 10-point lead of their own. But this type of disastrous opening to a game is enough to make you vulnerable against any team, even the Jazz.

LOSER – The Third Quarter

Just like the beginning of the first half, the Cavaliers found themselves outscored by 12 points at the start of the second half. This one didn’t feel nearly as bad as the first, considering they entered the third quarter leading by 8 points and would only face a 4-point deficit on the other end of it.

Still, the Jazz shouldn’t be taking it to you on your home floor like this.

We always want to give credit where it’s due. The Jazz played a great game. But it’s also true that the Cavaliers are in a different tier of the NBA and should be frustrated that they allowed this to happen more than once in the same game.

LOSER – The Fourth Quarter

Yeah… it was that kind of night.

For most of the game, I held my head high, assuming the Cavs’ massive talent advantage would eventually give way to them winning this matchup. I thought they turned the corner when they went up by double-digits in the second quarter. But, ultimately, that was the only quarter Cleveland won tonight.

We already discussed how the Cavs lost the third quarter. But I fully believed they would manage to erase a two-possession deficit and escape with a win. We’ve seen this team dominate fourth quarters before.

Somehow, they lost the fourth quarter, too.

Utah outscored Cleveland 33-26 in the pivotal frame. They ended the night with a 50-30 advantage on the glass. And, most importantly, the Jazz left Rocket Arena with a 123-112 victory.

The Cavaliers were booed off the floor.